Obel d



(No Model.)

0. D. ORVIS 8a N. B. ADAMS.

STREET SUBWAY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

OREL D. ORVIS AND NELSON B. ADAMS, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

STREET-SUBWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 288,730, dated November 20, 1883. Application tiled October 10,1883. (No model.)

ToY @ZE whom, t may concern:

Beit known that we, OREL D. ORvis and NELSON B. ADAMS, both of the city and county of New York, in the State of N ew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Street-Subways, of which the following is a specication.

Our invention relates to the improvement in street-railway structures or subways,which forms the subject of our Letters Patent dated September 25, 1883, and of which the number is 285,657. According to the system therein described the street is provided with two or four tunnels, according to whether it is designed for a single or double track road, the two tunnels or each pair of tunnels extending parallel with each other, and each tunnel being in communication with the surface of the street by a narrow longitudinal slot, and each containing a rail of a railway-track on which the wheels of a car may run, the said wheels being connected with the cars which they support by plates which run in the above-described slots.

Our present invention consists in providing a street with one or more tunnels in addition to those just referred to for the track-rails, said one or more additional tunnels extending parallel with the tunnels containing` the track-rails, and adapted for the reception of electric wires or conductors, and steam, air, gas, or water pipes, as more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an irregular transverse vertical section on the plane ot' the dotted line .r x, Fig. 2, of a street containing our railway-structure5 and Fig. 2 is a plane of the street, being partly in horizontal section, cut in the planes of the dot-ted lines g/ y, z e, and l l, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures.

A is the st-reet-pavement, and B is a structure built beneath it, chiefly otl masonry. rlwo tracks are shown, the rails O C of which are laid in tunnels D, each communicating with the surface of the street through a continuous slot, d, which may be about a half-inch in width. The sides of each slot are formed by wrought-iron bars a u., and against these the paving-stones are laid. Cross-frames, ties, or sleepers E are arranged at intervals, and to these the rails C and bars a are secured. These frames, ties, or sleepers are described in detail in our above-referred-to patent, and no further description here is thought to be necessary. The two tunnels D which pertain to each track are parallel. The wheels of the cars which run on the rails O are connected with the cars by plates extending upward through and working in the slots d.

In addition to the tunnels D we provide other tunnels, MNN, beneath the street. The tunnel M is arranged beneath the space between the two tracks, and is made large enough to permit the convenient passage ot workmen through it. It may,with advantage, contain a construction-track, l), on which a small hand-car, b, may travel. The tunnels N are arranged beneath the track O C, on either side, and are necessarily narrower than the tunnel M.

XVe contemplate providing the tunnels M N N with facilities for supporting electric wires or conductors, whereby these wires may be conducted under ground, and the nuisance ot' running the wires overhead is obviated. The wires may be strung on insulators in the tunnels 5 or they may be insulated and made into cables, which may be supported in any suitable way along the side walls of the tunnels, or in any other convenient positions.

The particular arrangement of the wires indicated in Fig. l we consider the best-nainely, the use of one of the tunnels N for telegraph-wires, the other for telephone and municipal-telegraph wires., and the central tunnel, hD for electric light and power wires. Other arrangements may, however, be adopted to best supply the needs in any particular locality.

The tunnel M is accessiblcby means ofmanholes placed at convenient intervals, and the tunnels N are reached from the tunnel M through cross passages or openings at short intervals beneath the tunnels D. One of these passages (lettered P) is shown at the right hand in Fig. l. XVe also utilize these tunnels M N N in which to lay the various pipes required beneath a citys streets. XVe have shownthree pipes as laid along the bottom of the tunnel M and one on the bottoni of each tunnel N. These pipes may be used for various purposes, the arrangement indicated in IOO Fig. l being well adapted for most uses. One or more steam-pipes and certain pneumatic-4 dispatch tubes are best placed in the tunnel M, and the gas and water pipes inthe tunnels N N. To facilitate carrying branches from these various pipes to supply the buildings along the street, or to make connections with pipes ruiming through cross-streets, we form transverse passages Q Q through the masonry at intervals-as, for instance, every twenty feet. One of these openings is shown in sec tion in Fig. l. They are best constructed by laying pieces of drain-pipe in the masonry. The wires or pipes may be readily led out through these passages, thereby avoiding the necessity for cutting an opening through the masonry in each case.

W'hat we-claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A street-subway structure in which are provided two parallel tunnels near the street surface, cach communicating with the said sur face through a narrow longitudinal slot, and containing one of the two rails of a railway- 5 track, and in which are also provided one or more additional tunnels arranged adjacent to and 'extending parallel with said track-tunnels, substantially as and for the purpose set l.

2. A street-subway provided near its surface with four tunnels, cach communicating with the surface through a narrow longitudinal slot, two of said tunnels on one side being parallel with each other, and each containing one of the two rails of a railway-track, and the two tunnels on the other side being likewise parallel with each other, and each containing one of the two rails of a second track, and with a third tunnel arranged in or beneath the space between the two tracks, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A street-subway provided near its surface with the four tunnels D, each communicating with the surface through a narrow longitudinal slot and containing a rail, C, and also provided with a tunnel, N, between the tunnels D which contain the rails of each track, and with a central tunnel, M, between the tunnels D which contain the rails of the two tracks, substantiall y as and for the purpose set forth.

OREL D. ORVIS. NELSON B. ADAMS.

XVitnesses:

ARTHUR L. DENMAN, ANDREV M. Onvrs. 

